Sansepolcro
is situated in the very center of Italy -
an area of Italy populated first by the
Etruscans, then by the Romans. The
Etruscans had their principle cities in
Perugia, Cortona and Arezzo (all towns
within a 40 mile radius of Sansepolcro)
and the used the Valtiberina (Valley of
the River Tiber) as a source of timer - at
that period (c. 1000 BC) the valley was
covered in walnut trees. However, toward
700 BC the might of the Roman army had
destroyed all the Etruscan empire and a
group of Roman centurions chose the site
where Sansepolcro is today to build a camp
- Birtugia. A number of other Romans,
including Pliny the Younger, build their
summer villas in the
Valtiberina.

Legend
has it that the town of Sansepolcro was
founded by two pilgrims returning from the
Holy Land with a fragment of Christ's tomb
and they chose the area as a site for a
religious community and a shrine for this
holy relict. The name Sansepolcro is
derived from Santo Sepolcro meaning "holy
sepulchre".

There is
another legend that the settlement
Biturgia was destroyed by a massive
earthquake and so many people died
entombed in the rubble that the town
became known as San Sepolcro in reference
to the victims. Sansepolcro, like the
whole of Italy, is a seismic area and has
been destroyed by an earthquake at least
once in recent history. The earliest
standing palazzos date from 1300 (i.e. the
stone palazzo in the corner of the Piazza
Torre di Berta which houses the "Happy
Bar") due to a massive earthquake at the
beginning of the fourteenth century which
destroyed Sansepolcro. Since then there
have been a number of smaller earthquakes
and now all modern buildings must be built
anti-seismic. Even now there are a lot of
small tremors --in the last fortnight
alone there have been two big
tremors.

Sansepolcro
is essentially a Renaissance town and it
was during this period (14th and15th
centuries) that the town flourished.
Sansepolcro had 26 noble families who all
had stone towers attached to their elegant
palazzos. However, when the powerful
Medici family took over the control of
Sansepolcro, they made the nobles shorten
their towers to the height of the
adjoining palazzos as a sign of
subservience. These towers can still be
seen as you walk around the town. The only
tower left standing at its original height
was in the center of Piazza Torre di
Berta. In fact, the square was named after
its tower, the Berta tower. However, the
tower, having survived the Medici, was
blown up by the retreating German army in
1944.

The
Medici were not the only family to govern
Sansepolcro. Due to the position of the
town on the very edge of Tuscany,
bordering with Umbria and Le Marche,
control of Sansepolcro alternated between
the Medici, the powerful Dukes of
Montefeltro from Urbino, and, very
briefly, the Church. However, Sansepolcro
has never had its own ruling family and
the democratic feeling that held it
together during the Renaissance can still
be felt today.

The town
has an abundance of churches and
monasteries (about 18), most dating back
from the 13th and 14th centuries. For this
reason, the town museum and, indeed, many
of the churches are extremely rich in art.
The most famous son of Sansepolcro is
Piero della Francesca and four of his
works can be found in the town
museum.

Of these
the most famous is the Resurrection. This
was painted for the council chamber of the
town hall (in the 1400s the museum
building was in fact the town hall) and
has never been moved. Aldous Huxley
described the Resurrection as the
"greatest painting in the world," and even
if you do not agree it is hard not to be
impressed by this fresco. There are two
points of particular interest in the
picture. The first is that the figure of
Christ stand with his left foot on the
grave edge and, at the side of the fresco,
all the plants and trees in the background
are alive and flourishing (representing
the rebirth of life), while the other
side, where Christ's foot is still in the
grave, has a desolate, dead background.
The other point of interest is that one of
sleeping soldiers is a self-portrait of
the artist.

Other
renowned artists of the same period came
from Sansepolcro - Santi di Tito, Matteo
di Giovanni, Raffaellino del Colle - and
their works can be found in the museum and
various churches. A dramatic Deposition by
Rosso Fiorentino, a mannerist artist
(called "Rosso Fiorentino" because he had
a huge red beard and a lot of red hair and
cam from Florence), can be seen in the
church of San Lorenzo at the bottom of Via
Luca Pacioli. This is well worth seeing
even though the colors are rather odd -
Christ's body is purple. The picture was
in this church for years, getting dirtier
and dirtier until it got sent away to be
cleaned so no one can remember if these
are the real colors or if something went
wrong with the cleaning!

An
unusual piece of art that is worth seeing
is in the left-hand apse of the Cathedral.
This is a carved wooden Crucifix called
the Volto Santo which dates from 900 AD.
It is very unusual - one of just 3
surviving examples in the whole world -
and has recently been restored. It used to
be so discolored from candle smoke and
centuries of dirt that when it was carried
around the town in processions it
frightened children! The cathedral itself
dates from about 1350 and, like the
majority of Italian churches, has been
altered over the years. However, in the
1930s, nearly all the alterations were
torn out so that the cathedral has
reverted to roughly how it was in the
1300s. The only noticeable addition that
remains, dating from the 1600s, is the
chapel in the right-hand apse that is a
pretty example of baroque
style.

Sansepolcro's
other famous son was the mathematician
Luca Pacioli. For part of his life he
lived in the monastery of San Francesco
and two years ago a statue of Pacioli was
erected in honor of the five hundredth
anniversary of the publication of the
Summa. It was in this book that he set out
the theory of double-entry bookkeeping.

After
the glories of the Renaissance,
Sansepolcro went into a kind of decline.
Up to the second half of the 19th century
the main source of income for this area
was from agriculture - mostly tobacco.
Towards the end of the last century, the
Buitoni family started the now famous
pasta company which was extremely
successful. Until then, all Italian
families made their own pasta and Buitoni
offered the first ready-made pasta. The
company was family-owned until the
mid-1980's and it is now part of Nestle.
However, it is still the largest employer
in Sansepolcro.

Most
towns in Italy have some kind of festival
during the year and Sansepolcro is no
exception. On the second Sunday of
September, Sansepolcro holds the Palio
della Balestra - and ancient contest
against the nearby town of Gubbio, where
crossbowmen (balestrieri) from the two
towns aim at a target set up in the Piazza
Torre di Berta. The bold nearest the
center wins. The contest dates from the
Renaissance and those that take part are
dressed in authentic costume, made by the
same designer from Rome that makes the
costumes for Zeffirelli's
films.

As an
adjunct to the crossbowmen, there are the
flag-wavers (sbandieratori). This is an
art developed by standard bearers going
into battle, armed with nothing but a
flag. Certain movements were developed to
enable the flag to be used as a weapon and
now in the 20th century form part of a
unique display. The flag-wavers are also
dressed in costume and the flags are made
from silk, hand-painted with the coats of
arms of Sansepolcro's noble families.
Sansepolcro's flag-wavers are world famous
and each year travel to festivals
throughout the world to give
displays.

SANSEPOLCRO:
BIRTHPLACE OF PIERO DELLA
FRANCESCA

Sansepolcro
is in the high valley of the Tiber, at the
foot of the Appennines, the last edge of
Tuscan land between Emilia Romagna, Marche
and Umbria. Some people take its origins
back to a Roman camp. According to legend,
it was founded by two pilgrims, Egidio and
Arcano, who stopped here on their return
from the Holy Land.

It is
thus the name of Sansepolcro is
explained.

Originally
it was a fiefdom of the monastic order of
the Camaldolesi and was, unusually, for
those time, a totally independent city
founded. However, it subsequently became
the domain of the Malatestas, the Medecis
and finally the Lorenas.

Pope Leo
X then gave it the title of City and made
it a bishopric in 1570. Sansepolcro is
above all the City of Piero della
Francesca. In the museum are preserved
some of his most important works: "The
Resurrection"; the polyptych of the
"Madonna della Misericorida"; the "San
Guiliano" and the "San Lodovico".

At
Monterchi maybe see the beautiful "Madonna
del Parto". In the museum there are also
on show many works of art by important
artists, among them the Albertis, the
Della Robbias, Matteo di Giovanni,
Perugina, Pontormo and Luca
Signorelli.

Of
particular interest in the room displaying
carved stone-work, is an impressive
original Romanesque frieze.

In
Sansepolcro were born not only important
artists but also influential men of
intellect such as Dionigio Roberti,
teacher of Petrarch, and men of science
such as Luca Pacioli, renowned
mathematician and Nicolo Aggiunti,
disciple of Galileo.

Sansepolcro
is also the city of the Palio of the
Crossbow and the ancient games of
flag-waving.

The
historic center is a fascinating example
of stone-built towers, the splendid Medici
Fortress of Giuliano of San Gallo, the
many palazzos of noble families, the
surrounding city walls all bear witness to
those times. Worthy of notice are the
Gothic church of San Francesco and the
Romanesque cathedral, both with their
characteristic bell-towers. Other
important churches are the "Servi di
Maria", the "Madonna delle Grazie" and the
"San Rocco" all adorned with beautiful
works of art. The church of "San Lorenzo"
is the custodian of a "Deposition" by
Rosso Fiorentino.

The
Tiber Valley and the Appennines forming as
they do a wide and picturesque
amphitheater from La Verna to the source
of the Tiber itself to Montecasale, refuge
of St. Francis, provide unspoiled scenery
of rare natural beauty. Of interest nearby
are Monterchi, Anghiari, Caprese
Michelangelo, Pieve Santo Stefano, Badia
Tedalda and Sestino.

In
Sansepolcro, the tradition of
craftsmanship lives on: especially in the
making of exquisite lace, fine jewelry and
the Italian crossbow.